Early Settlement

A Map of New England

This map, the first known to be published in North America, has perplexed bibliographers for centuries. It is attributed to John Foster, believed to be the only man in Boston who made woodcuts during that period. The map appeared in William Hubbard's Narrative of the Troubles with the Indians in 1677. Another version of the map, with one notable difference, was inserted in the London edition of Hubbard's work, published within months of the Boston edition. The American edition contains the "White Hills" map, while in the other version the White Hills of New Hampshire are identified as the "Wine Hills." Historians still struggle to determine the order in which the maps were printed, and whether or not they were both cut by John Foster, but there is no question that this version of the map is unique.

William Bradford Letter to John Winthrop

11 April 1638

This 1638 letter from Gov. William Bradford of Plymouth Colony to Gov. John Winthrop of Massachusetts Bay Colony references Anne Hutchinson, who soon would be exiled from Massachusetts for her religious teachings. Hutchinson held popular weekly religious meetings in her Boston home. Many colony leaders felt threatened by Hutchinson and her followers, whom they labeled "Antinomians"—heretics who believed themselves above law and custom because of their direct communion with God. In this letter, Bradford expresses concern that Hutchinson and her followers might move into Plymouth Colony. He also asks Winthrop for information about a "monsterous & prodigious birth" to Mary Dyer. A follower of Hutchinson, Dyer gave birth to a deformed, stillborn baby, with Hutchinson acting as midwife. Hutchinson's opponents saw the birth as God's punishment, as they did a later, similar birth to Hutchinson. Dyer later converted to Quakerism and was jailed and executed in Boston for refusing to conform to the established church.

John Winthrop's History of New England

John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, kept this journal both as a personal record of his life and service and as a history of the colony’s first 19 years. Winthrop was 42 years old when he began writing a day-to-day account of his voyage to America on the Arbella in 1630. The journal, widely recognized as the single most important account of the founding of Massachusetts, continued in a similar vein for several years before it became a more self-conscious attempt to set down the important events in New England. The journal contains a wealth of information regarding the political and religious affairs of early New England and includes mentions of such prominent figures such as William Bradford, John Cotton, Anne Hutchinson, and Roger Williams.

Samuel Sewall Diary

19 September 1692

Samuel Sewall kept this diary from 1673 until his death in 1730. As one of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's prominent citizens, he knew all the notables of his place and time and documented them and his daily life in detail. Sewall served as one of the judges at the infamous Salem witch trials in 1692 and mentioned them in his diary. Unlike the other judges involved in the trials, Sewall later regretted his part in the controversy. He proclaimed a fast day in the colony in December 1696 for all to do penance for the sins of the witchcraft tragedy. He also publicly confessed his guilt in church and asked for God's pardon. Sewall continued to observe a personal fast day for each of his remaining years.

The "Eliot Indian Bible"

This is the first Bible printed in any language in North America and the largest single printing venture of the early colonial period. The Massachusetts Bay Company was founded, in part, with the goal of converting Native Americans to Christianity, and this Bible was part of that effort. Rev. John Eliot, who became known as the "Apostle to the Indians," was the chief missionary agent to the Native Americans in Massachusetts. The minister of the local church in Roxbury, he began preaching to Native Americans in their own Massachuset language and translating scripture for them. In 1663 he published this Massachuset translation of the combined Old and New Testament, which became known as the "Eliot Indian Bible."

Salem Witch Bureau

In his will, Gen. William H. Sumner describes this late 17th-century chest of drawers as "the Witch Bureau, from the middle drawer of which one of the Witches jumped out who was hung on Gallows Hill, in Salem." This chest of drawers is similar in design and construction to a number of chests made in eastern Massachusetts, some of which are attributed to the Symonds workshop of Salem. John Symonds was a joiner from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England, who emigrated to Salem, where he set up his shop. He trained his two sons and a number of other apprentices, and it is possible that one of them made this chest.